In mobile communications networks, it is now possible to send short text messages, referred to as short messages or short message service (SMS) messages, using mobile handsets. Some SMS messages may be sent from mobile handsets to other mobile handsets. Such SMS messages are referred to as mobile-terminated SMS messages. Other SMS messages are intended for non-handset destinations, such as machine destinations. An example of a machine destination is a voting machine that accepts SMS messages to tally votes for a one-time event, such as a contest.
The entity in the network that is responsible for delivering SMS messages to their destinations is the short message service center (SMSC). For mobile terminated SMS messages, the SMSC must query the destination subscriber's home location register to identify the MSC currently serving the subscriber and deliver the message to the subscriber via the MSC. If the subscriber is unavailable, the SMSC must store the message until the subscriber becomes available. For machine destinations, since these destinations are usually always available and in fixed locations, the SMSC simply delivers the SMS messages to such destinations. Another responsibility of the SMSC is to communicate with SS7 network elements via the SS7 protocol and to communicate with short message peer-to-peer (SMPP) entities via the SMPP protocol.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional telecommunications network including an SMSC 100, a signal transfer point (STP) 102, a mobile switching center (MSC) 104, a machine destination 106, and a mobile destination 108. For all mobile originated SMS messages, mobile switching center 104 sends the messages to STP 102. The messages are sent route on global title, and the global title addresses in the messages are set to the global title address of SMSC 100. The global title address of the SMSC is programmed into the mobile handsets of all users of SMSC 100. This parameter is sent automatically when a mobile subscriber originates an SMS message. STP 102 global title translates the mobile originated SMS traffic and routes the traffic to SMSC 100. It should be noted that all mobile originated SMS traffic with a global title address equal to that of the SMSC is sent to the SMSC regardless of whether the traffic is intended for a machine destination 106 or a mobile destination 108. When SMSC 100 receives the messages, SMSC 100 formulates SMPP messages and sends the SMPP messages to the appropriate destination.
Mobile telecommunications service providers must engineer their networks to have sufficient SMSC capacity to handle the SMS traffic in their networks. FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating SMS traffic versus time in a typical telecommunications network. In FIG. 2, the line 200 represents the baseline level of SMS traffic. Peak 202 represents a spike in SMS traffic caused by a flood of SMS messages sent through the service provider's network, for example, due to a voting event or spam SMS traffic. In order to engineer the network to handle both the normal traffic level and sporadically occurring peaks in traffic level, the service provider would be required to over-provision short message service centers in the network. However, since certain peak SMS traffic may be addressed to machine destinations or other destinations that are stationary and always on, there is no need to provide full SMSC functionality for such destinations. As a result, networks are either unable to handle peak SMS message traffic or are over-engineered.
Accordingly, there exists a long felt need for methods and systems for bypassing a short message service center for SMS messages destined for predetermined SMPP destinations.